Keeping the Boy
by Alice The Walker
Summary: They laughed at each other, cried together, grew up with each other. Now can Kaito convince Shinichi they love each other? An AU KaiShin story


"Kuroba-sensei! Kuroba-sensei! Over here!"

A young Kudo Yukiko was wildly waving her arm to catch her disguise sensei's attention. Completely disregarding the nasty looks other patrons of the upscale restaurant were giving her, she continued to call out to him from her seat by the windows. Sitting next to her was a little boy, who couldn't be more than 7 years old, blushing at all the attention his mother was drawing to their table. Hunkered down with his shoulders pulled up to his ears, only the very top of his neat brown hair was visible.

Waving his own hand, though considerably less wildly, in response to the young actress's calls was a gentleman with brown hair in a sort of casual suit. He moved with an obvious, fluid grace to his steps, keen eyes taking in everything around him in a moment.

Walking beside the man was another young boy, with vibrant purplish blue eyes and messy brown hair. He was dressed casually in comparison to his father, sporting a bright blue t-shirt and loose, khaki, cargo shorts. He wasn't acting embarrassed as the other boy was. Instead he seemed to be basking in the attention, almost seeming to preen as he walked next to his father with a skip in his step.

The man spoke as he took a seat at the table, across from the smiling actress. "Yukiko-san, energetic as ever I see. And on time as usual too. Tell me, did the police finally catch you driving this time?"

Yukiko laughed at that replying, "Not this time. It's so nice to see you though sensei, and you've got a son now too. So cute! He looks just like Shin-chan! What's his name?"

"Chikage decided to name him Kaito. A fitting name no?"

As the adults had begun speaking, Kuroba's son had settled himself into the chair to the left of his father, next to the other child who had maintained his position of hiding almost under the table, despite the presence of new people. A curious look on his face, the second child looked at the adults to make sure they weren't paying attention before slipping under the table.

A small twitch of Toichi's lips signaled to any observant watchers that he did in fact know that his child had gone under the table. Yukiko wasn't paying that much attention though, still talking about how they could dress the children up together, since they looked like twins and how cute she thought that would look. And the two observant children were lost in their own world.

"Ah, Yukiko-san?" He continued to smile at her as she winded down at the call.

Smiling even brighter in return she voiced her reply, "Yes Kuroba-sensei?"

No verbal reply was given, but he directed her attention instead to the seat to her right, where her son had been sitting. The child's shoulders were no longer hunched up quite so much, but he had a startled expression on his face. His head was turned downwards and his tiny hands were holding up the edge of the tablecloth where part of the top of another head of brown hair, more wild though, could be seen. The two weren't conversing, simply taking the others appearance in as there were startling similarities between the two of them.

"Tou-san, do we get to bring him home with us?"

Both adults started laughing as the boy with wild hair crawled up from under the table, right into the lap of the affronted 'Shin-chan' to ask his father that question. It was sounding like the precocious child of Kuroba Toichi thought that this new child was a pet of some sorts, what with they're odd similarities in appearance.

"I'm not a pet! And who are you anyways?" Shinichi had picked up on the undertones of the question the other child had asked and wasn't pleased with it.

The other child simply perked up even more at the question though, bringing his face to within an inch of Shinichi's. Shinichi responded with wide eyes, slamming his head back quickly to try and gain some personal space. The only result was his hitting his head on the back of the seat though, as Kaito moved forward to stay close to Shinichi.

Laughing Kaito brought his hands up and threaded them into Shinichi's hair, settling himself even closer to Shinichi as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm Kaito! Kuroba Kaito, soon to be magician extraordinaire! And if you're not my pet, does that mean you're my assistant?"

"NO!" Shinichi looked outraged at the suggestion that he be Kaito's assistant. Looking desperately at his mother in hopes that she'd save him from the lunatic that couldn't seem to keep his hands to himself, he found that she was laughing along with the other kid's father at them.

A pout spread on his face as he realized he was left as the only sane person at the table, and decided to take matters into his own tiny hands. Well, he was planning to until Kaito decided to start talking again, spewing more embarrassing things onto Shinichi.

"Why not? You'll make a great assistant, you're cute when you make that face. And you get to stand on stage with me and wear sparkly dresses and participate in the whole show! It's going to be fun, you'll be famous just like me!"

"I don't want to be famous like you! And I'm a boy, I can't wear dresses!" Shinichi whined.

Kaito put on as endearing a face as he could manage in the face of a stubborn Shinichi.

"What are you going to do then, if you're not going to be my assistant? You really, really should be, I'm going to be the greatest magician since Tou-san. And you'd get to learn all my tricks!"

"I'm going to be the greatest detective since Sherlock Holmes!" Shinichi turned his face away as much as he could before Kaito's hands stopped his head from turning anymore.

Kaito paused in his movements with his hands still in Shinichi's hair.

"Why would you want to be a detective? That sounds boring."

"It is not boring! It's a great job, and I get to put the bad men into jail and solve puzzles and find clues. And I'll be famous for helping lots of people one day, without your help!" Shinichi replied with an affronted look on his face, outraged that this uncouth kid was making fun of detectives.

Just as Kaito started to open his mouth to continue the argument, Toichi decided to butt in and stop it before things got out of hand. Yukiko looked like she was enjoying their little spat too much to think of stopping it at that point.

"Now, now children, no need to argue. Being a magician or a detective are both excellent things to grow up to be." He continued on in the face of their incredulous looks. "Kaito, if detective weren't around then not as many people would attend magic shows. They'd be too worried about all the bad people. And Shin-chan, magicians help entertain people. If people weren't entertained they'd get bored and entertainment helps keep people from getting into trouble."

Kaito had an ashamed look on his face while Shinichi looked as if he couldn't decided between feeling ashamed for arguing or being mad that Toichi used his mother's nickname. Anger won out in the end.

"My names Shinichi! Kudo Shinichi! NOT Shin-chan. SHI-NI-CHI."

Kaito looked at the boy next to him with a horrified look on his face. He'd just corrected his father.

"If Tou-san says your names Shin-chan and Oba-san" Yukiko's face developed a tick at being called Oba-san "than that means your name has to be Shin-chan, Shin-chan."

Feeling proud of himself for defending his Tou-san, Kaito started to once again move his hands through the other kid's hair. It really was smooth, and felt nice, just like the curly hair of one of the cute puppies he'd seen at the animal shelter earlier, when Tou-san was considering getting him a puppy to play with.

Shinichi kept his mouth shut, having given up convincing them all to call him by his proper name, deeming it a lost battle. The two adults started to talk again, about everything from the children to their careers. The babble of the other restaurant patrons filled the background.

_3 years later_

Shinichi stared down into the grave of his honorary uncle, knowing he was in shock and more than likely denial as well. The now widow of Kuroba Toichi was on her knees by the grave, crying her heart out at the loss of her husband, while his own mother was crying into his father's arms. Nakamori Aoko, a friend of his and Kaito's, knelt next to Chikage as she somewhat knew the grief, having lost her mother some years prior.

Kaito was incredibly distraught, having lost both his adored father and his idol in one fell blow. There had been an accident on stage, a trick gone wrong despite all the careful preparations of Toichi.

Now he was standing at the edge of the grave with Kaito crying into his shoulders, arms around him as Kaito clutched at him as if the world was ending. In his mind, it probably was. And all he could do was stand there and hold him tightly, whispering to him that he wasn't going to leave him. It was a small, private funeral that was kept very simple. The skies were clear, though they had decided to hold the funeral at dusk when both the sun and moon floated high in the sky together.

Kaito's shudders picked up, and Shinichi felt lost and unsure of himself. He was only a little boy, but he wasn't going to try and hand Kaito off to one of the adults. They wouldn't understand Kaito the way he could. Muttering reassurances in his ear, Shinichi continued to rub Kaito's back in a gesture he knew Kaito enjoyed usually. Time passed and the funeral party started to disperse. Finally it was only those closest to Toichi that remained. Yukiko pulled herself together to help comfort Chikage as Nakamori gently pulled his daughter away so they could go home now that they had paid their respects.

Slowly Chikage gathered herself together and Yukiko led her away to the car they had hired to take them home. The Kuroba's were staying with them for a few days as they pulled themselves together. Their own family home carried to many memories still fresh in their minds, and was a painful place for the Kuroba's, too painful for them to stay right then.

Kudo Yusaku made eye contact with his son, a question in his eyes, who nodded his head to say that Kaito and him would remain a little longer. Yusaku nodded his head in consent as well, before turning to follow the two women to the car as well.

Once they had pulled away Kaito moved, settling himself quickly onto the ground and pulling Shinichi down on top of him and into his lap. Pulling his haggard face back, he looked into Shinichi's eyes.

"Will you promise to always stay with me?" his voice uttered, hoarse from his sobs and emotional from the barely restrained feelings of pain.

Licking his lips and struggling to speak, feeling drained himself, Shinichi managed a quiet "Yes."

Relief broke across Kaito's face and a small smile, barely visible even to Shinichi who was so close to him, made its way onto his face.

"Thank you Shin-chan."

Kaito pulled Shinichi close then, holding him tightly as an infant would its mother. Shinichi returned the embrace gladly, needing to reassure himself that Kaito was still there. In his mind, he cursed the fool building owner who had messed with Kuroba Toichi's carefully prepared set up in order to satisfy his curiosity.

_7 years later_

"He'll never know how you feel unless you tell him Kaito!"

"I have to agree with Aoko-san, Kaito-san. Brilliant detective he may be, but Kudo-san tends to be somewhat oblivious where you are concerned."

Kaito sat on the roof edge, leaning against the metal fencing as Nakamori Aoko and Hakuba Saguru berated him, Aoko in irritation that he continued to flirt with Shinichi while never outright saying his feelings to his childhood friend. Hakuba was simply tired of being the butt of Kaito's pranks whenever Kaito wanted to release frustration from Shinichi's continued ignorance.

Shinichi had moved into his house around his 11th birthday, as his parents had flown away to travel more. His mother had invited Shinichi to live with them instead of in the huge mansion of a house by himself. The two boys had grown even closer together and when Kaito had discovered the secret room that revealed his father had been the Kaitou 1412 aka Kaitou Kid, Shinichi had been the only person he told. Shinichi had taken in calmly despite being a teenage detective himself and had promised to never reveal the information.

When Kaito, bored with how easy school was, had decided to take up the mantel of Kaitou Kid for fun, Shinichi had offered to help protect him from the law. He made sure to attend every Kid heist, using all his acting skills to convince the police that he was seriously after Kid. It threw any suspicion off of Kaito who was in his own right a skilled magician. Everyone assumed that Shinichi would know and throw Kaito in jail if he was Kid.

That was when, despite the jokes of Shinichi having finally become his assistant, Kaito had realized he was coming to care for the boy romantically. He'd managed to hide his realization by teasing Shinichi about needing to buy a short, sparkly dress, but the feelings had only grown as the years went on. Now at 17 he was completely in love with Shinichi and constantly flirted with him, hoping Shinichi would understand. He never did though, always brushing it off as Kaito playing tricks.

The whole school knew, as Kaito had even gone so far as to sing a love song, dedicated to Shinichi, during the school talent show one year instead of doing his usual magic show. Shinichi had decided that it was just Kaito trying to embarrass him though.

Sighing at the depressive mood he'd put himself in, Kaito responded to Aoko and Hakuba. Both of them were starting to get irritating with the prodding they did whenever Shinichi was gone from his side, a rare event. But it happened at least once every two weeks, when Shinichi would go to the lunch line to try and get the special melon bread, as something to snack on along with the bentos he prepared for the both of them.

"He's never shown any inclination towards the same gender and if I made an obvious move I'd ruin what we have right now. I don't want to risk it. I'm content having him as much as I do now."

Aoko snorted at that, but didn't comment. What none of them were willing to say was that he wouldn't have Shinichi around as much soon enough. This was their last year of high school and then they would be busy with college. Genius they might be, but Tokyo University wouldn't be easy on any of them. After that they would have to enter the work force and Shinichi just wouldn't have the same amount of time for him as he did now.

On top of that, girls were starting to get bolder in their moves on Shinichi, who hadn't yet shown any particular interest in a single person. The girls at Ekoda High knew to stay away from Shinichi, but as he started to travel more for cases other girls would make a move. He'd only be able to scare them away with pranks for so long once they were in University.

"What are you acting all sad about now Kaito?" an exasperated voice scared all three on the rooftop. Kaito managed to mask his shock while Aoko screeched slightly from it. Hakuba had jumped a little but kept most of his composure.

Shinichi stood in the doorway, holding the door itself open with one hand while the other clutched four pieces of melon bread. Striding over to them, he dropped down next to Kaito before passing out the bread. After it was distributed, he looked again at Kaito in questioning.

"Nothing, nothing, just sad that you would leave me for some melon bread." Dramatically he threw his arms around Shinichi while assuming a puppy dog face. "Does the bread really mean more to you than I do?"

Shinichi deadpanned at the dramatics and studiously ignored Kaito now that he was sure it was nothing serious. Eating his bento while Kaito remained attached to him like a leach, he struck up a conversation with Hakuba about his latest case. Pouting Kaito, who had already finished his bento, left the melon bread alone as he started to stroke his fingers through Shinichi's hair. It was his favorite way to muss the detective's hair up, something he'd been doing for as long as he could remember.

Aoko gave him a look, glancing between Kaito and Shinichi to get her message across. Discretely he shook his head at her. Huffing she finished swallowing the last of her bread, before turning to Shinichi with a determined look on her face.

"Shinichi-kun, we were all talking earlier about going to the amusement park this Saturday. What do you think?"

Shinichi paused to swallow before speaking.

"That sounds like fun Aoko-chan. I don't have anything planned for Saturday either." Turning his head he looked at Kaito. "Want to go Kaito?"

Quickly putting a smile on his face to cover up the betrayed looked he'd been giving Aoko, he nodded his reply before snuggling into Shinichi's neck.

"I would love to go on a date with you Shin-chan!" he singsonged.

A blush spread across Shinichi's face at his actions, despite the fact that he did things like that on a regular basis.

"Ba-baka, it's not a date. Don't say things like that."

Ignoring the slight pain at those words, Kaito kept on smiling, happy that he could spend more time with Shinichi. Maybe one day he'd feel comfortable enough to express his true feelings, but until that day came he was happy to do things that might convince Shinichi to start to look at him in a different light. He might not be ready to make a move that obvious yet, but he would make sure to one day steal Shinichi's heart. It would be the one gem he would never return.

**Yes, it's a different story. And I really should be working on the one-shot I promised to the reviewers of Floral Delights, and I need to write ch. 7 of FD. But I forgot to save the work I'd done on ch. 7 so at the moment I'm too depressed to write it. And I wanted to finish this before trying to type up what I'd managed to do on the trip for the one-shot. Hope you all like it though, just something I came up with so I have something light to work on. Not nearly as plot intensive as Floral Delights (and aren't I pathetic for saying that's plot intensive.) **

**Things won't be following canon though, at all. There is no Black Organization, and Toichi's death was actually an accident. Sorry for killing him off. Please don't kill me. *Hides behind desk from angry readers* Oh, and I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito, pretty much if you recognize the character from somewhere besides my writing, it's not mine. I don't make any money off of this and this disclaimer applies to all chapters of this story. **

**Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for reading, reviews are greatly appreciated whether they be comments, questions, concerns, thoughts, etc., and have a good day/night depending on where you are. **


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